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debz57a52 's review for:
Shotgun Lovesongs
by Nickolas Butler
Two of my students decided to read this book for the Midwest Authors project we do in class. Their weekly journals about the book were really interesting, like, made me interested in read the book, so I added it to my TBR quickly, and then moved it up just as quickly.
I've gotten say, this is a great book. I'm a Midwesterner by birth, but only recently a resident of Wisconsin, and this book is so spot-on in so many respects. I love Butler's characters, as individuals, as parts of a small group of friends, and also as composites of different types of people who deal with living in the Midwest/Wisconsin. The narration is so FULL of Wisconsin traditions and cultural touchpoints that this small community outside of Green Bay seemed like its own character.. I also really liked the way the narration changed to help tell different parts of the story and get a fuller sense of the story points. I kind of hated Kip from the beginning, but his chapters helped smooth out his rough edges. Ronny seemed very flat and juvenile from Hank and Lee's perspectives, but his chapters really opened up more of his character development. Beth was a great person to add to the narration, too, since she could comment on all four of the friends, plus her own connections to each of them, although I didn't love it when Kip's wife joined the narration rotation since she wasn't a native Little Winger. There are quite a few twists and turns, though, which held my interest. I thought the low-key conclusion was a nice touch.
The narrator's voices were unique enough that I didn't have to remind myself who was narrating after the first time. I thought that Lee's narrator sounded a bit like Nick Offerman, and that was confusing a few times, but they were all pretty talented and well cast.
I've gotten say, this is a great book. I'm a Midwesterner by birth, but only recently a resident of Wisconsin, and this book is so spot-on in so many respects. I love Butler's characters, as individuals, as parts of a small group of friends, and also as composites of different types of people who deal with living in the Midwest/Wisconsin. The narration is so FULL of Wisconsin traditions and cultural touchpoints that this small community outside of Green Bay seemed like its own character.. I also really liked the way the narration changed to help tell different parts of the story and get a fuller sense of the story points. I kind of hated Kip from the beginning, but his chapters helped smooth out his rough edges. Ronny seemed very flat and juvenile from Hank and Lee's perspectives, but his chapters really opened up more of his character development. Beth was a great person to add to the narration, too, since she could comment on all four of the friends, plus her own connections to each of them, although I didn't love it when Kip's wife joined the narration rotation since she wasn't a native Little Winger. There are quite a few twists and turns, though, which held my interest. I thought the low-key conclusion was a nice touch.
The narrator's voices were unique enough that I didn't have to remind myself who was narrating after the first time. I thought that Lee's narrator sounded a bit like Nick Offerman, and that was confusing a few times, but they were all pretty talented and well cast.